2015 Resolutions

Ok, I've been putting this off long enough, it's time to finalize my list of goals for the year.  I've been struggling to write this post because my goals weren't as clear cut for this year as they were last year. It was kind of a crazy ending of 2014/beginning of 2015 and I just didn't have the time or energy to ponder these things as much as I had hoped.  But it's February now and this is getting ridiculous so here is what I have come up with:

1.  Whole30
We're actually done with this already, but it was one of the few goals I've had since I started thinking about 2015.  Doad and I had planned on doing another Whole30 after the New Year almost since we finished our first one in July. It kind of feels like cheating to put up a goal I've already completed, but I'm leaving it here as a motivation boost. ;)

2. Get pregnant
It should be no secret now, that this has been one of our goals for over a year and a half.  I'm really hoping that 2015 is the year.

3.  Quit my job
This kind of goes along with goal #2 since I will be a SAHM whenever that ends up happening, but as I've mentioned before, I'm kind of just really over working outside the home.  I like being a housewife.  And I'm looking forward to being able to do that full-time.

4. Finish two books with Doad
We finished our first book together last year and I'm upping our game this year.  We have high hopes since we just scored a bunch of awesome books at the thrift store for like $5.  I'm looking forward to some cozy evenings snuggled up with my hubby and a good book. :) Our current read is called A Meal With Jesus: Discovering Grace, Community, and Mission Around the Table by Tim Chester.

5. Read 24 books
Again, upping my game and hoping to double the amount of books I read last year.  I've got a good start so far with book #1 complete (The Infertility Cleanse: Detox, Diet, and Dharma for Fertility by Tami Quinn) and books #2 and #3 partially read.  ... and like five more books already in line to be read - I can't decide which to choose next!  There are SOOO many books I want to read this year.  I'm actually hoping I will read more than 24 because I just don't think I can wait till next year to read all the books on my list!

6.  Marriage Conference
This was one of the few goals that I didn't complete last year so it is absolutely on the list this year.  I think our marriage is doing great, but I want to do everything possible to make sure that I'm being the best wife for Doad.  :)

7. Go on a cruise (or nice vacation)
The rest of these goals are kind of all fun ones, but we have been looking around for a good deal for a cruise for several months.  We were originally hoping to go last year in September, but then we ended up both quitting and starting new jobs at the same time instead!  My new goal is was to go for our anniversary in March, but we just haven't found a great deal.  Now we're considering an all-inclusive resort type of trip because there seem to be a lot more options and deals to choose from.

8.  Have all purple hair
I know, it sounds crazy, but it's really not TOO much different than what my hair already looks like - pictured below in a sneak peak of a super fun valentine's photo shoot.

I saw this pic on pinterest months ago and haven't been able to get it out of my head.

I think it's gorgeous.  Call me crazy, but I love purple hair.  It's my "non healthy/crunchy guilty pleasure". ;p  I couldn't go all purple for the wedding, but now I have no reason not to.  Unless I chicken out, I will be going all purple the next time I get my hair done.  EEEEEK! :)

9.  Color run?
I'm not really sure if I want to do this or not lol.  But they look like fun and are a good reason to exercise.  If Doad and I can find one we like, we are hoping to do this later this year.

10.  Keep up with the Spanish lessons
I really fizzled out at the end of last year, but for the last week or so have been making myself get back into the habit of working on it again.  I don't have a specific goal for this yet, but I'm hoping to at least make it through the second set of 16 cd's (32 lessons) by the end of the year.  It's slow going, but that way I know I won't get overwhelmed.  :)

11.  I know I had one more goal, but I didn't write it down and forgot what it was... :/
I'm leaving this one as a place marker for whenever I remember it.  ;)


There they are, my goals for the next 10.5 months.  Time to get cracking' on 'em.  :)

Did you make goals this year?  Leave me a comment with your top one or two resolutions.  Let's hold each other accountable to reaching our goals in 2015.  :)  Can't wait to hear from you!

Big Changes Part II: That Time We Both Quit Our Jobs on the Same Day

I think we both knew from the beginning that we would be taking the job offers.  I just needed the few days to process that and let it sink in.  I also needed time to work up the guts to quit because, ew, that is kinda nerve-wracking.

Doad went first because I spent half the morning having a panic attack in the bathroom.  I'm kinda friends with my boss which made things feel even more awkward for me.  It was pretty uneventful though, and once I finally got it out and my heart started beating like normal again things were fine. My boss took it really well and once everyone else found out, they all responded like normal, sane human beings.

Doad, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.  First of all, his boss was out for the day.  Of course.  He couldn't wait though because he wanted to be able to give the full two weeks notice and he was going to be out of town Tuesday thru Thursday.  He decided that even though it wasn't ideal, he would have to call him and tell him over the phone.  But then he found out that the reason his boss was out was because he was at the hospital with his wife who was having surgery.  So awkward.

He finally got the chance to tell him, but didn't get to discuss it with him much (understandable) and that was that.  So we thought.  It turns out that Doad's company is a little smarter than I gave them credit for because they realized how valuable Doad was to them and that they were really in deep doo-doo without him.  They spent the rest of his two weeks trying to convince him to stay.  All except for his direct boss who took it super personally that Doad was leaving and basically shunned him.  Oh, but first he got all aggressive and made some really rude remarks.  Thanks for being understanding man, and appreciating all that my husband did for you for five years. Doad worked his butt of for this guy and yes, I'm pissed that this small man had no respect or character when all was said and done.  He doesn't even realize all that Doad did to try and make his life easier in the workplace.  What a disappointment.

If his boss bought him a goodbye cake, this is what it would have said.

Ok sorry, rant over.

So Friday was our last day at both of our jobs.  A coworker brought me Starbucks in the morning and the office took me out for lunch and gave me a sweet card.  Doad's work buddies took him out for lunch too and at the end of the day we packed up and headed home.  It was a quiet ending to a kind of hectic two weeks.

This Monday we start a whole new chapter in our lives and I'm super excited and also freaked out.  I hope it's a smooth transition and that we both ease our way into our new positions quickly.  Sometimes I'm happy that we're both experiencing this together and can relate to all the newness.  Other times, I worry that we will both feel unstable or stretched at the same time and struggle to be the rock for each other in a shaky place.  But I feel God's peace and know that He was the one guiding us to these decisions and new jobs this whole time.  I've been praying so hard for His clarity and direction and I know He will be with us as we step into these new roles.  I'm looking forward to what's in store and hope that soon I will have some new, cute stories to share about life as a nanny.  :)

Big Changes Part I: Making Decisions

If you know me and Doad in person, then it's no secret to you that we were not super fans of his job.  If you didn't know us in person well,

... we were not super fans of Doad's job.  

I've basically been praying for him to find a new job since he was hired five years ago.  That's not to say that he didn't have ANY good experiences there.  He did.  He learned so much.  He gained loads of experience.  And he  bulked up his resume a ton.  But I hoped and hoped that this would not be his job for years and years.  

So when an opportunity to interview for a new company plopped itself in his lap we were very excited.   Well, and nervous, and cautious, and slightly concerned because who plops job opportunities down like this?

So he interviewed, and we prayed, and we waited.  And prayed some more.

Meanwhile... although I wasn't necessarily unhappy with my job, I was very unhappy with the commute.  I have a special "gift" for attracting all the crazy drivers and when combined with my slight "road rage-y" tendencies... well, I'm just a treat to come home to at the end of the day.  

One day, after an especially rough commute, the kind where you throw the meal plan out the window and just go out for dinner because oh my gosh, please get this girl in public so she stops with the tantrums! Doad sweetly suggested that maybe I should look for a job in town (town is walking distance, literally 60 seconds away from our house, NO COMMUTE!)  ;)  

I entertained the idea half-heartedly, because we all like to fantasize about our dream jobs, but I didn't really think much would come of it.  But then I couldn't get the idea out of my head.  And then Back-to-School happened and traffic got even worse and I was done.  I downloaded the Indeed app to my phone, I googled for any job openings in the area, I even looked on Craigslist for 2 seconds before realizing that no job offer from there actually results in respectable work.  Oops!  

Sadly, there wasn't much to work with, but I did notice a lot of ads for nannies.  Hmmm... babies?!!  I like babies!  Then I stumbled across care.com and hello!  Lots of job openings!  I created a profile and had several messages from families within a few days.  Within a week I had found a great sounding job with a super sweet family.  

So I interviewed, and we prayed, and we waited.

Doad's job offer came on a Thursday.  He felt a little hesitant at first.  It's a scary thing to take a leap like that.  Even though his current job was not a good fit, it was familiar and "comfortable".  We talked about the pros and cons and couldn't come up with very many reasons not to take the job.  We decided to pray about it over the weekend and make a decision on Monday.

My job offer came that Friday.  I also felt hesitant at first.  It's a scary thing to take a leap like that.  Even though I hated my commute, my job was familiar and comfortable.  We talked aout the pros and cons and couldn't come up with very many reasons not to take the job.  We decided to pray about it over the weekend and make a decision on Monday.

...to be continued.

2014 Resolutions: May Recap

So I've finally come to accept that no month really goes how I hope for it to go.  I thought we'd sort of picked up momentum and would have great stats for the month, but between Doad's surgery and one heck of a kidney infection (thank you, kidneys) our momentum has pretty much stopped.  :/  

It hasn't dampened my spirits though, so I am ever hopeful that June will be a better month.  

Baby steps, people.  One foot in front of the other.  That's my motto for the year. 

1. Run 100 miles this year. 

We only ran the first week in May.  But I'm not too mad cuz 3.49 miles in one week is still pretty awesome for us.  We are going on vacation to Canada soon and both of us are excited about taking some morning runs around the lake.  Hopefully I can figure out how to track the milage on my phone without roaming???  So our total to-date is 19.08 miles and we have 80.92 miles left.  Yikes!  We now need to run about 3 miles a week in order to meet our goal.  Possible, yes.  But we definitely need to buckle down!

2. Get back to my wedding weight. 

Ehhhh.... same as always. 

3. Read 12 books. 

Book #5 = Check!  I got thru a good chunk of this book while chilling with Doad at the hospital, but then it got lost in my purse and I didn't pick it up again til last week.  I'm officially done with the Narnia series.  Can't decide what book to bring on vaca.  :/  

4. Read through one book together with Doad.

We didn't touch our Community book all month long.  I'm bringing it on our road trip to Canada tho.  It's about a 9 hour drive so we should be able to squeeze in at least one chapter, right? :p  (I'll let you know...)

5. Find a cleaning routine that works. 

I'm thinking I need to change this goal to something a little more defined.  Like, "Do at least one load of laundry every week" or "run the dishwasher every other night"... I'm just not able to find a full routine that seems to stick, however, I do feel like we've made progress with our ability to keep the house cleaner.  I think I'm trying to change too much in this area and if I can just add one chore each month that I'm doing consistently maybe that will work better? 

6. Get new items listed on my online shop.

Ok, so I had every intention of listing these new items... and then I gave them away for Mother's Day instead.  Haha.  I do have more on my sewing table just waiting to be finished.  Hopefully THIS month I will get them lissted.

7. Go to a marriage conference.

These things are really expensive!  Still looking for one we can afford.  :/

8. Go on a date with one of my sisters each month.

Jadie and I did an ice cream date in early May.  So fun!  She is growing up into such a sweet, insightful young lady.   

9. Learn Spanish

I finished with the first set of cd's this month!  When we bought the program, it came with four cases of about 16 cd's in each case.  I'm super proud to have finally gotten through a whole case.  My goal for the second case is to do about 6 lessons (or 3 cd's) each month.  Hopefully, I can keep up!

So there's my May recap.  Not a fantastic month, but not a horrible one either.

Again, it's about the baby steps. :)

What are your baby steps for this month?

A Tale of Two Surgeries...

Oh hey!  Remember that time when I used to blog regularly?

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Yea... that's right, I never do that.  Not even for Star Crossed Recaps... which we watch and tape once a week.  Except that we skipped it for like 3 weeks because Life.

For example, a couple weeks ago Life happened to us in the Tale of Two Surgeries.  Dun dun dun DUHN!

Once upon a time, on a Tuesday to be precise, Doad came home from work with a really bad stomachache.  I knew it was bad cuz he was already in bed in pj's by the time I got home from work.  We thought it was gas, but gas doesn't make you throw up for 4 minutes straight... So then we thought it was some sort of stomach bug.  I asked him a couple of times if he wanted to go to the doctors, but all you ladies with stubborn tough, handsome husbands know what his answer was.

Here's the thing: when I get sick, I get like medium sick for 5 days.  Its that sucky in between sick where you're not quite sick enough to justify calling out of work, but you feel like absolute crap all day and just wanna be horrible to everyone you talk to.  Or cry.  Or both.  When hubs gets sick, he gets like extreme sick for one day.  One day, people.  And I love it and hate it because I spend the whole time wondering if he's dying on me, but it only lasts for one night and then it's over and he's his wonderful, happy self again.

I thought this was his almost dying sick and that when I woke up he'd be all better, so I went to sleep.  I had to get up and take this cute thing to get spayed in the morning.

Obviously, she was thrilled...

Hubs tossed and turned all night, I know cuz I woke up to it every hour. :p  He was still in bed when I got up, so I assumed that he had taken the day off to get some sleep and hopefully he was on the up and up.  There's often not much I can do when he's feeling sick, I've learned to just let him rest and let his body do his thing.  Looking back now, I feel like I was neglecting him and should have known sooner that something more serious was going on, but at this point I thought he still just needed rest.  I left to take the dog to the vet and got home about an hour later.

When I walked in the bedroom he was sitting on the side of the bed sort of hunched over.  He said the pain had sort of moved to his right side and asked me what the symptoms of appendicitis were.  As soon as he said that I knew.  He was like 10 for 10 out of the symptoms and that convinced him that it was doctor time.  

Hello ER... Hello CT Scan... Hello surgery in a couple of hours!

Doad did great through surgery and is the Happiest, Nicest, Jolliest person you've EVER met on drugs.  Even the transport guy who's only interaction with Doad was wheeling him from the recovery room to his private room said, "He's just the nicest guy!" on his way out the door lol.  My baby was feeling GOOD!  

"Happy drugs"

But then it was night time, and night time at hospitals is a special sort of torture.  And then there were fevers.  And another night of special torture.  And then we finally came home on Friday, tired as the dickens and so, so excited to sleep more than an hour without something beeping or someone sticking a thermometer in your face.  

So over having his vitals taken. :(

Our family and friends were awesome and provided us with meals and visits/entertainment to get through the weekend and allow Doad to rest without dying of boredom.  My mom was an absolute angel and picked up the dog from her surgery and nursed her back to health with the help of my siblings while I stayed with Doad in the hospital.  She was very glad to see us on Friday and oh, how we missed her too.  My poor little baby girl.

So I somehow got my dog spayed and my husband an appendectomy on the same day and survived.  It was really hard and I definitely wouldn't recommend it and definitely couldn't have done it without family and friends who pitched in and helped so much.  Our neighbor even mowed our lawn and Doad's work buddies bought us groceries. What? So nice!

I'm so thankful to say that both my husband and my little pooch are healing well and we are so blessed by the way people rallied around us to not only pray for us and visit us, but help meet physical needs that we had as well.  It's humbling to admit that I don't know how to mow my own lawn, but also pretty cool to see others step in as the hands and feet of Christ to serve and love us.  I'm looking forward to finding ways to pay it forward to others and to bless them the way that I was.  :)

2014 Resolutions: April Recap

Yea, I've been slacking again.  I do this thing where I get lots of thoughts that I want to share and then I get overwhelmed and don't know how to write them down and so I just ignore my blog for a while.  So I'm taking the easy way out and just writing my monthly goals recap.  For now.  :)

1. Run 100 miles this year. 
This month started out terribly.  We didn't run at all until last week.  And then we killed it.  In one week we ran 5.81 miles.  That's like 50% of what we've run so far lol.  So now our total to-date is 15.59 miles and we have 84.41 miles to go.  Oh, and we met my goal of running the loop through 3 times - our first run over 2 miles! :)

2. Get back to my wedding weight. 
Still not there.  This honestly just isn't a super strong focus for me right now.  I'm focusing on eating healthier and exercising when I can.  If the weight doesn't come off, I'm kind of okay with that because I know overall that I am making healthier choices.  BUT... hopefully, the weight decides to come off anyway. ;)

3. Read 12 books. 
Four down and 8 to go.  This month I read The Silver Chair.  One more book to go and I will be moving on from the Narnia series. :)

4. Read through one book together with Doad.
Well... we met our goal for the month.  We read one chapter and that's it.  I'm tempted to make my goal for this month to read 2 chapters, but I know us better than that.  Unfortunately, if we read one chapter we'll be doing good. :/

5. Find a cleaning routine that works. 
Nope. Not yet.  We did do a little bit of Spring Cleaning, but rather than help me get into a routine, it wore me out and threw off my "routine".  Haha.

6. Sell something from my online shop.
CHECK!!!!! You guys, so excited that I accomplished this goal.  I made a sale on April Fools Day. Haha.  It was not a joke though.  I also got some new vision for the shop and made some new items for the shop.  Hopefully this month I will get them listed. :)

7. Go to a marriage conference.
Still looking for one. Any recommendations??

8. Go on a date with one of my sisters each month.
I changed it up this month and decided to take all my sisters out on a date together.  We explored the shops in historic Sykesville and had so much fun!  My sisters are the best and I love hanging out with them.

9. Learn Spanish

Another slowish month in this area.  This month we worked on past tense and it was just hard for me to grasp.  I'm starting to get it though.  Definitely not giving up! :)

How are your goals going?  

It's never too late to set some new goals or renew ones you've lost sight of!

2014 Resolutions: March Recap

I can't believe that we are already a quarter of the way through the year!  March has kinda zoomed by for me, it's been a busy month.  Let's see how I've been doing with my resolutions through this busy month:

1. Run 100 miles this year.

Well, I did a little better than last month.  I ran a total of  4.4 miles this month, bringing my total to-date to 9.78 miles.  That means I have 90.22 miles to go.  With 39 weeks left in the year I need to run about 2.5 miles a week to meet my goal.  Still doable I think... but I need to buckle down!  My big victory moment this month was that I finally ran my usual loop through twice.  We usually run the loop once and walk it once - my goal for April is to be able to run 3 loops by the end of the month. *Fingers crossed*

2. Get back to my wedding weight.

I haven't been tracking this very well.  We are definitely eating healthier and adding more and more veggies into our diet and cutting out more and more processed foods, but I have not been getting on the scale regularly.   I know I'm still a few pounds away from this goal.

3. Read 12 books.

I finished my "March book" today.  Voyage of the Dawn Treader just wasn't as interesting to me as the rest of the Narnia books have been.  I'm looking forward to finishing up this series and starting a new one.  Maybe the Divergent series that's so popular right now. :) 

4. Read through one book together with Doad.

Womp womp.  We've hit that point that we do with all the books we try to read together and just come to a complete halt.  I'm a little bit frustrated about this.  Hopefully we can push through and finish this one.  My goal for this month is small: read one chapter.

5. Find a cleaning routine that works.

Still not into a routine, but I have been doing laundry regularly on my days off this month so I'm counting this as a success this month ;)  Also, I'm planning on doing some Spring cleaning this month - not exactly a routine, but I'm hoping it will jumpstart some new good habits.

6. Sell something from my online shop.

Nothing new on this subject.  Hubby finished the craft room lights though, so I will be in there much more this month.  My project this week is a baby shower gift for my sister-in-law.  Then maybe a couple new items for the shop. 

7.  Go to a marriage conference.

Still looking for one.

8. Go on a date with one of my sisters each month.

March = check!  Jill's turn this month.  We went shopping at the mall for her birthday and had a blast!  We talked about everything from tattoos, to boys, to our awkward middle schools days.  We also found some awesome deals and both went home with a few new items for our closets.  This is one of my favorite goals that I've made for the year and I'm super thankful for the awesome sisters God has given me.  

9. Learn Spanish.

This was a slower month.  I only made it to lesson 27 - so only 3 lessons this month.  

So this month was kind of a struggle.  I definitely made an effort, but it was just a really busy month.  April is a little less busy so here's hoping that I can really step up my game and catch up in some areas.

Your turn, what goals are you hoping to achieve this month? This year? 

I'd love for you to tell me about them in the comments below!

2014 Resolutions: February Recap

Happy March, friends!  Time to check in on my yearly goals and see how I'm doing.  It feels like I haven't done much, but I'm hoping I'm wrong ;)

1. Run 100 miles this year.

Once again, I blame the cold for my lack of productivity in this area.  I'm hoping that will change soon, but seeing as how they're calling for another 5 inches of snow this weekend I doubt it.  My monthly total this month is a whopping 2.55 miles bringing my total to-date to 5.38 miles. Only 94.62 miles to go! Haha....

2. Get back to my wedding weight.

I've been adding healthier meals to our rotation, but since we're not working out tons I still haven't seen the weight go down at all. :/ My motivation is lacking just a little bit in this area.  I keep telling myself I'll be better when the weather's warmer.  

3. Read 12 books.

Two books down, ten to go.  So far I'm still on track with this goal.  Yay!

4. Read through one book together with Doad.

We have been reading through a book called Community by Brad House.  We are about halfway through.  

5. Find a cleaning routine that works.

Still working on this.  I think we're improving?? But I still have a long way to go.  If only cleaning was as entertaining as Facebook...

6. Sell something from my online shop.

This one's still kinda on the back burner.  Doad is installing lights in my craft room right now so things are kind of packed up so he can work in there.  When he's done, I'll be back in there working on a new idea :)

7.  Go to a marriage conference.

Still looking for one we can afford. 

8. Go on a date with one of my sisters each month.

February = check!  This month I took my sister Jianna out for her birthday.  We went to starbucks, got Chinese food, and had a little picnic in my car lol.  

9. Learn Spanish.

Still plugging away at this one.  I'm on lesson 24 now.   I'm actually learning new stuff instead of just reinforcing what I learned in high school which is kind of exciting.  Still got a long way to go, but considering how slowly it's gone the past few years, the progress I've made in the past two months is definitely an improvement! :)

Ok, so that was better than I was expecting. Besides cleaning and sewing, I think I'm staying on track with everything so far.  Yayyy!  Thank you, Blog World, for keeping me accountable. :)    

Your turn, what goals are you hoping to achieve this month? This year? 

I'd love for you to tell me about them in the comments below!

2014 Resolutions/Goals

This is the first year in a while that I've actually made resolutions.  I'm more of a vague goal-setter and this year I really wanted to set some goals that I can measure and achieve.  It's kind of a month late to be posting these, but better now than never, right?  I'm also counting it as my one month update and hoping that this amps up my motivation since we all know how that can fizzle out right about now.

1. Run 100 miles this year (in total, not all at once - hello, I'm not crazy!)

I used to run 3 miles a day when I lived in Texas.  It was mandatory and I hated it.  I had some knee and hip problems and running became painful so I stopped and haven't really run much since. 

I'm seeing a chiropractor for some back issues now and I think the adjustments are also helping with my running issues. Doad and I started running just a little bit last Fall and we are hoping to continue it this year.  Running 100 miles comes out to a little less than 2 miles a week which I think is totally doable and achievable goal for us.  Unfortunately, so far we've only run a total of 2.83 miles this year. :/ 

Thank you, Polar Vortex.  Or whatever.

Hopefully this picks up when the weather gets nicer and my dog heals and can go running with us.

2. Get back to my wedding weight.

I've been working on this since last year and only have about 5 pounds to go, but they are stubborn those 5 pounds!  I mainly want to lose the "snack pack" that's sitting on my tummy.  My strategy is the running from my first goal above and making healthier eating decisions.  

3. Read 12 books.

This goal feels super lame when I compare it to other people's goals of reading 50-100 books this year. But I want these goals to be realistic for me and one book a month is where I'm at. 

I'm reading through the Narnia series right now and am on track so far! I've already started my second book. :) Yay!

4. Read through one book together with Doad.

Again, this goal feels a little bit lame because... one book?  

We have started several books together, but just never make it to the end.  There are two on our nightstand right now that we have been reading together for over a year.  This is the year we finish one of them!  

5. Find a cleaning routine that works.

Our schedules are kinda random and that means our cleaning schedule is really random too.  Right now it pretty much goes like this: House gets really messy.  Jess gets cranky and overwhelmed. Doad helps her clean it.  Jess feels like a bad housewife for letting it get so out of control and vows not to let it happen again.  Repeat.

This year I bought a new planner and have been great about using it so far.  I'm hoping to incorporate some daily cleaning habits as well as some scheduled deep cleaning days.  For some reason, I find cleaning schedules really hard to stick to and am hoping that I can find something that works for us this year.

6. Sell something from my online shop.

I've had an Etsy store for over a year, but haven't sold anything.  :( I haven't been too proactive about it because I really just like sewing and making gifts for friends and family.  But I am slowly building up an inventory for the store and need to figure out what I'm doing with my life how to be more proactive about marketing.  I think I'm just afraid to believe in myself and my products and don't want to come across as obnoxious.  People make success on Etsy look super easy.  Anyone wanna mentor me? lol

7.  Go to a marriage conference.

Just for a tune up and a fun weekend.  This is something Doad and I have always talked about doing but haven't done yet.  We're hoping that changes this year. :)

8. Go on a date with one of my sisters each month.

I love my sisters and don't hang out with them enough.  This is one way that I can force myself to be in their lives at least once a month.  January date = check! :)

9. Learn Spanish.

This is the most intimidating goal for me.  I've talked about this goal before on the blog and it is one I really want to complete, but it is hard.  Slowly but surely we've been chipping away at our lessons.  I feel like we're making progress and am excited to see how far we can go in a year. 

So that's it.  So far, so good, I think.  I feel like these are goals that are easy enough to actually accomplish, but are hard enough to make me proud of completing them too.  

What do you think?  How are you resolutions going?

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Why 2014 Is Already Kicking My Butt...

It's been a tough year so far.  Yes, I'm talking about the only 2 1/2 weeks of 2014 that we've experienced.

We rang in the New Year with the both of us sick in bed.  Thank you, Little Stinker Elf, that gave us germs for Christmas... I got sick the day after Christmas and then gave it to Doad (sorry, hubby!) the following Sunday.  It was a doozy of a cold too.

LOL, look at that feverish glow.  

Lacey was very sweet and snuggly tho.  She could tell we were not feeling well and (for the most part) behaved very kindly to us.  

We still have a lingering cough (still!) but we were feeling well enough to get out of bed on the 1st, just in time to clean the house and get ready for work the next day.

So Thursday comes and we make it through work - we're tired, but we survived.  We even made it home safely in the snowy conditions, cuz of course, this story has to have inclement weather involved.

Lacey was having a blast in the snow.  We ran around with her watching her kick up the snow and attack random flakes - it was so cute!  This was kinda odd behavior for her cuz she HATES the cold normally.  She shivers the instant she steps outside and one of her favorite pastimes ever is just snoozing in front of the heater as close as she can get to it without knocking it over.

Right before bed, I decided to take a quick shower and Doad took Lacey out for one last potty before going to sleep.  When I came out of the bathroom, I experienced my least favorite moment of being a puppy mom ever.

While Lacey was outside, she started playing in the snow again.  When she got near the house, she took a jump from the grass to the concrete part of our back patio.  It's not a big leap, but her back feet gave out in the slippery snow and she landed on her elbow and broke it.

:( :( :( My poor baby.  Doad brought her inside by the heater and we tried to figure out how serious it was.  She yelped anytime we got near her arm so we knew pretty quickly that it wasn't good.  We bundled up and slipped and slid our way to the emergency vet in the snow. Most stressful night of my life!!!

We were hoping it was just a sprain or a small break - of course it was the worst case scenario and she needed to have surgery.  They couldn't do it there tho, so they put a splint on, gave her some pain meds, and sent her home for the night.  It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear her moan in pain all the way home and throughout the night as she tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in.  No one slept well.

We saw the specialist the next morning and they were able to squeeze her in for surgery at 5 that night. We stayed with her as long as we could and then headed home for a quiet night.  I called them several times to check on her, which they were great about, and spent most of my time counting down the minutes til we could pick her up.

So far, the recovery has seemed to go pretty well.  She doesn't seem to be in pain at all and has done pretty good at being on bed rest for a puppy with limitless energy.  Her days have mostly been spent cuddling with me and sleeping/reclining in every weird way possible.

We were very excited for bandage removal day, especially because she has seemed to be doing so well.  We took it off Monday night and had very mixed feelings about what we saw.  The incision seems to be healing perfectly.  The sutures definitely look ready to come out.  But the bone itself seems to have sprouted another elbow or something.  On the side of her arm right under her sutures (which should be flat) there is a rather large bump protruding.

The doctor said it could just be swelling, but it hasn't gone down at all even with the recommended heat packs.  We go in today for x-rays and hopefully some answers and good news, but I'm really struggling not to be nervous about it all.  We haven't gotten tons of good news so far this year.

On top of Lacey's accident, we've also gotten a cracked windshield and a broken refrigerator since we rang in the New Year.

So yea, this year has kicked my butt so far.  I'm hoping for some good news today and maybe a change in our fortunes haha.

How has your New Year been?  Hopefully better than ours!  

I'd love to hear from you. :)

Introducing Miss Lacey and Happy New Year!

*I typed most of this up about a month and a half ago... then, in my typical blogging style, let it sit here and marinate and practically become irrelevant.  But it's my blog and these are my memories so I'm posting it as is anyway.  :)  Just pretend it's from the end of November instead of the end of December.  And hopefully a more current update will be following in a week or two... but don't hold your breath ;)

My sweet little pup has been here for 3 weeks now and I just love her so much!  As always, I thought I'd be a lot better about updating with pics, but honestly, it's just so much more fun to cuddle and play with her than it is to upload all these photos. ;)

Right now she is snoozing away by my side.  She is quite a little snore monster!

These are from our first car ride home with her.  She did so good.  I was worried that she'd be car sick since it's a 1.5 hour drive, but she was a trooper!  She coughed and sort of spit up once, but it was more like drool than anything else.  Then she just curled up in my lap and slept the rest of the way!

She LOOOOOOVES her naps. :)  I think almost all of my pictures are of her when she's asleep.  Partly because its so cute and partly because that's the only time she stops moving long enough to get a non-blurry photo! She has two speeds: 1) super sleepy/zonked out & 2) crazy, hyper, energizer puppy.

Her favorite toys right now are none of the actual toys that we've bought for her, they are empty water bottles that she pulls out of our recycling bin.  She also has a thing for ice cubes as you can see in the video below: 

So cute, right?! I love her to pieces.

Well, there are a million more pictures to share, but I'm afraid I will never post this if I don't stop now.

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Also, it's New Year's Eve so I guess I should say something about that ;)

This has been a wonderful year for Doad and I.  We were blessed with a wonderful perfect house at the beginning of the year.  Took a lovely vacation to Canada.  Saw several friends and family members get married.  Welcomed two more nephews to the family and found out that another niece or nephew is on the way.  And of course, we added on to our little family with our sweet pup, Lacey.

God has been super, super good to us and I am so thankful for all that He's done and taught me this year.  I've learned a lot about enjoying the moments I'm in and being content with where I am in life.  I've become more creative and resourceful.  I've learned to take action to pursue my dreams instead of just thinking about them.  Hopefully, I can carry those lessons into this next year and pick up even more good habits.  :)

So cheers to 2014 and farewell to 2013! It's been a fantastic year and I can't wait to see what lies ahead.  Enjoy your celebrations, friends! Stay warm and safe and may God bless you this coming year.